Eden Riegel

Interviews

A soapy same-sex kiss

"All My Children" made TV history on Wednesday, April 23, when Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) lesbian daughter Bianca (Eden Riegel) kissed a woman -- marking the first ever same-sex smooch on a daytime soap opera.

Were soap fans ready for this? Riegel says yes. "I know that on the (Internet) message boards, there is a small but vocal minority that didn't want to see this," the actress reports. "But the vast majority (of fans) were ready, excited and with the story line." (...)

"Lena has made a lot of mistakes in her past. She has not proven herself a very nice person. Of course, Bianca doesn't know that," Riegel explains. "And now Lena is working with Michael (a bad guy played by William deVry) to try to take down Enchantment."

As part of the secret plot, Lena was told to get close to Bianca so she could be more easily manipulated. The problem is, after their first date, Lena realized her feelings for Bianca were genuine, and that she just couldn't use her. Rather than tell Bianca the truth, however, Lena simply informed her that she could never see her again, quit her job and decided to leave the country.

"For Bianca, this was a huge disappointment," Riegel says. "Every time she opens up to a woman, she gets her heart broken." Bianca was ready to accept the bad news and move on, but Myrtle urged her to follow Lena to the airport and demand an explanation. (...)

When she first read the tense, romantic scene scripted for Bianca and Lena, Riegel was thrilled. "It's that kind of old romantic airport scene in which the two lovers decide whether they can take the risk and take a chance on love -- only it's two women this time." (...)

Overcome by her true feelings, Lena realized she couldn't walk away so easily, and the two women kissed.

Riegel had never kissed a woman before. [Ivanova's comment: Now, why do they always have to state this?! Can you remember an actress who declared she had never kissed a man before?!] "I was a little nervous because I wanted it to look natural and organic and real and true," Riegel says. "I didn't want it to seem tentative." (...)

by Christine Champagne